


1945

by Emma_Oz



Category: The Lost Prince - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Genre: Gen, Historical, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 19:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3180566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_Oz/pseuds/Emma_Oz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Marco considers that a hereditary monarchy may not necessarily be the best form of Government for Samavia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1945

‘This is the hardest thing I have ever done,’ Marco whispered.

‘I know,’ Rat said, ‘If you want to change your mind, I could…’

‘No,’ Marco said. He straightened his shoulders, a gesture that was the same in his forties as it had been in his teens, and stepped onto the Palace balcony.

The balcony had been fitted with microphones but it was otherwise the same as when Marco’s father had been crowned a lifetime ago. Marco looked down at the crowd in the Square and felt the familiar surge of protective warmth as his eyes dwelled on his people.

‘My friends, fellow Samavians!’ he said, ‘The war is over! Samavia is free!’

The crowd cheered. It had been a long, terrible war. 

‘And we must remain free!’ Marco waited for the next round of shouting to end. He knew the moods of the crowd so well. ‘As you know, the Jiardasians to our north and the Ruritanians to the east are now under the protection of the USSR.’

The crowd muttered uneasily. Marco had phrased the next words carefully, going over them with Rat until he was sure they would be clear to his own people, yet not overtly offensive to their powerful neighbours. 

‘But Samavia does not require protection. We appreciate the sacrifices the Soviet people made in the fight against Nazi aggression. Samavia too sacrificed and fought. Our soldiers met the Nazis on the field of battle. We fought in the mountains. We cut the train tracks. We mined the bridges. We held up a division here, a division there. We cut the supply lines. We never gave up! We never stopped fighting!

No, Samavia does not require protection from the USSR. 

Samavia looks to the future!’

Marco drew a deep breath and glanced beside him. His son, Prince Stefan, nodded supportively and from the corner of his eye he could see Rat who, as usual, was positioned behind a pillar that hid him from the crowd. 

‘And that is why I have worked with the Noble Council to draw up a constitution for Samavia. A new constitution for a new era.’

His smooth delivery gave no hint of the difficulties, the sometimes overwhelming difficulties, in forging a document the Nobles would accept. Even with the threat of a Soviet pogrom, the Nobles had been resistant to change. 

‘This constitution allows for general elections to Government. All Samavians, men and women aged over twenty one, will be able to vote, to choose the Government.’

The crowd buzzed and fell silent.

‘This will give Samavia an elected Government. Like Britain, like France, like the United States of America, we will be a democracy.’

The crowd murmured again, with many different questions and exclamations. 

‘Samavia will be a free democracy!’ he reiterated. ‘The war of Nazi aggression is over, and we can remake Samavia. We can make Samavia into a land where the children are well fed, a land where the schools are full, a country where all the people are free citizens. 

I have spoken to the American ambassador and I am assured that the people the United States of America will not forget their allies in the war against Nazi aggression. 

Even now they are preparing aid to allow us to rebuild Samavia. Equipment for our factories. Tractors for our farms. Loans to allow the rebuilding of our once beautiful libraries and schools. 

Samavia will be prosperous, and our mother land will be free. And all of you, my beloved fellow Samavians, will help shape this future as you vote in the elections. The first election will be held on the first of January,’ he said, ‘To signify the new beginning.’

He paused. ‘And this new beginning will be felt all over Samavia. Even in the Palace.’

He paused again. ‘I want the new, democratically elected Government to be able to act freely. And that is why I will abdicate.’

He anticipated that there might be tumult from the crowd, but the people were perfectly quiet, as if unable to understand him. ‘I will abdicate,’ he said steadily, ‘And Prince Stefan will become king on the thirty first of December this year.

It is with great sorrow I take this step, but I am convinced that this is the best for Samavia. 

Samavia is building a new future as a democracy. But the new Government must be able to do as they se fit. All of you are used to obeying me. Many of you have been born during my reign and that of my father and remember no other.

I am convinced that if the new Government is to act independently, I will need to step aside. This will allow the new Government to take its own actions, to make bold decisions for the good of Samavia. And yes, even to make its own mistakes and to learn how to make a better Samavia.

And so, my dear fellow Samavians, with great love in my heart I announce my abdication.’

The crowd cried out, shocked, saddened, but Marco made a deliberate and literal step to one side. Prince Stefan stepped forward, flanked by his wife. 

Stefan held out his arms and Marco hugged him quickly. He was so proud of his son, who had taken on the burden of kingship while knowingly giving away most of its powers. He kissed his cheeks and made the traditional Samavian salute to the king.

Then he walked away from the balcony. For the first time in his life he left the crowd in the square unhappy.

Rat peeled himself away from the pillar and followed, as he always did. ‘Well said,’ he said fiercely, ‘Well done.’

Marco tried to smile but found he could not. Rat grabbed his shoulders, letting his cane clatter to the ground. He pulled Marco into a hug. Marco held on and on. When he finally pulled away, wiping his eyes, Rat sank down and made his respects.

‘No, no, not any more,’ Marco said. He fell to his knees beside Rat. 

He supposed they looked ridiculous, two middle aged men kneeling in a corridor, but he could not bring himself to care. In any case, all the attention of the Palace was riveted on Stefan’s speech on the balcony. He could hear him talking of peace, the future, the hopes of Samavia.

Rat pressed his forehead against his and for the first time in his life, Marco stopped listening to the voice of his people in the square. He breathed in and all he could see were Rat’s wide, green eyes, his crooked eyebrows, and the delighted oh! of his lips. Marco smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> *The Lost Prince* was published in 1915 but it makes no sense to imagine the boys crisscrossing Europe in the midst of the Great War. So let us say that it is set in 1913, when the prospect of another country arising in the Balkans/Bohemian area was not impossible. This means the boys were born in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Like everyone born then, the chronology of their lives sucks. Here is my imagined version.
> 
> 1913, the boys cross Europe telling key people that the Lamp is Lighted. King Ivor accedes the throne. A new era begins for Samavia. But not for long because…
> 
> 1914, the Great War. Samavia’s nest of alliances pull Samavia, along with the rest of Europe, into the morass of the War. King Ivor reserves his troops as mounted harriers rather than becoming embroiled in trench warfare. Control of the Samavian troops is given to a seasoned general.
> 
> 1916, Marco and Rat move to the Front. Rat has a genius for strategy and Marco is charismatic, and they are popular with their troops if not with the Allied command who resent their attempts to avoid the slaughter of their troops.
> 
> 1918, peace.
> 
> 1919, King Ivor is one of the many killed by the influenza epidemic. His faithful serving man dies shortly after. Marco accedes the throne while still underage. He installs Rat as his closest advisor and they begin an aggressive program of mechanisation of the farming industry, promoting trade, prioritising schooling and founding libraries.
> 
> 1921, Marco comes of age. Marco marries Josephine, a Bohemian countess. She is both sensible and kind, and she presents him with a series of beautiful, good children who she raises with grace and sense. He is very fond of her and adores the children.
> 
> 1923, Birth of Prince Stefan.
> 
> 1925, Birth of Prince Gemin and Princess Marina.
> 
> 1928, Birth of Prince Ivor.
> 
> 1928, Samavia represented at the League of Nations.
> 
> 1929, the Great Depression.
> 
> 1930s, Samavia’s farming makes it self sufficient but this is a difficult period, especially after 1934 when they begin to build stores for the guerrilla warfare which they realise will have to be waged against the Nazis in the future.
> 
> 1939, Germany annexes Poland. Samavia declares war on Germany.
> 
> 1940, Samavia overrun. Samavian fighters begin guerrilla resistance against the Germans. Marco encourages the protection of Jewish subjects in Samavia. Rat establishes a hidden orphanage for Jewish children.
> 
> 1944, end of the war in Europe. Samavia’s neighbours are over run by the USSR but Samavia is the eastern-most country to be liberated by the Allies. This is due, in part, to extensive lobbying by Marco and Rat, including a secret visit to London.
> 
> Beginning of the Marshall Plan. Loans are available to rebuild Samavia. Marco and Rat negotiate a particularly advantageous deal for Samavia in return for establishing the country as a democracy, to be nurtured by the USA in their attempts to stop the spread of communism. Marco abdicates. King Stefan accedes the throne, knowing that he is now a limited monarch overseeing a democracy.
> 
> 1945, first general election. A new era for Samavia. Marco and Rat retire to the countryside, to allow King Stefan to grow into the role of king. They quickly become involved in the UN.


End file.
